Posts Tagged ‘animal cruelty’

People for the ethical treatment of animals but not women

The latest ads by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) raise questions about the animal rights group’s understanding of the words ethical treatment.

PETA objects loudly to the use of animals as meat while treating women as just that – raw lumps of meat. While its manifesto opposes the use of “living creatures” for entertainment, it’s apparently OK if the living creature is a woman in a bikini.

PETA has a long history of objectifying women in its pro-animal campaigns, and its latest ads are no exception.

Do you love vegetables so much you want to get intimate with them?

That’s the theme of new ads by the group, which perhaps should be renamed Pornographers for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.

The ad, which carries the tagline, “Studies Show Vegetarians Have Better Sex,” shows models getting up close and personal not with people they might be having “better sex” with – but with vegetables.

“Why don’t you pick a vegetable and show us how much you love it,” the casting director instructs one of the models.

PETA had wanted the ads shown during this week’s Super Bowl. Fortunately Super Bowl’s ad executives had more sense. Last year’s “Veggie Love” promotion was also declined by NBC despite a $3m offer. The new ads are apparently ‘outtakes’ of auditions for the 2010 ad.

This representation of vegetables as phallic symbols that women can’t resist is just one of many of PETA’s crude, sexist creations which denigrate women and reduce them to objects for sexual fetish fantasy. In 2006 in its ‘Milk Gone Wild’ campaign, PETA portrayed women as party animals with udders instead of breasts. The “udder babes” sprayed milk on the crowd as men urged them on. It was the first PETA ad I’d seen and I wasn’t sure how depicting women as hybrid human-animals flashing grotesque milk-spurting udders would further their cause. As Kat observed in a comment on Perth Indy Media, “turning a woman into a beast for sexual pleasure”.

Vegans and other animal-rights activists have spoken out against PETA’s sexist approach. Vegansaurus!, a vegan eating/living guide based in the San Francisco Bay Area, described the new ad as “softcore porn masquerading as an anti-animal-cruelty video”. “Whatever the hell the women in lettuce bikinis are supposed to represent? The Worst. Why are you such hypocrites?”

“How is exhorting young women to get it on with gourds in any way ethical treatment? … are there exceptions in the vegan manifesto about how living creatures aren’t to be exploited for our entertainment?”

‘The foremost authority in Australia cyber safety lays it on the line and challenges parents to find their digital spine.’ – Dr Michael Carr-Gregg

Whether it is problems with friends, worrying about how you look or just feeling a bit down in the dumps – these books are written especially for you – to help you in your journey. Purchase all four together and save $18.50 on postage! Author: Sharon Witt

In this DVD, Melinda takes us on a visual tour of popular culture. “Melinda’s presentation leaves audiences reeling. She delivers her message with a clarity and commonsense without peer.” – Steve Biddulph, author, Raising Boys, Raising Girls

In this easy-to-read updated book, Steve Biddulph shares powerful stories and give practical advice about every aspect of boyhood.

Men of Honour -written by Glen Gerreyn- encourages and inspires young men to take up the challenge to be honourable. Whether at school, in sport, at work or in relationships, we must develp our character to achieve success and experience the thrills life has on offer.

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“Getting Real contains a treasure trove of information and should be mandatory reading for all workers with young people in health, education and welfare” – Dr Michael Carr-Gregg, Adolescent Psychologist

Do you read women’s lifestyle magazines? Have you thought about how magazines might affect you when you read them? Faking It reflects the body of academic research on magazines, mass media, and the sexual objectification of women.

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Ruby Who? is the sweet and innocent story of a little girl’s adventure in re-discovering her identity. Ruby wishes for so many things and dreams of being like others. Will she end up forgetting how to just be herself?

Defiant Birth challenges widespread medical, and often social aversion to less than perfect pregnancies or genetically different babies. It also features women with disabilities who were discouraged from becoming pregnant at all.